Our Response

Having faced our despair, perhaps one thing we can do is to consider if we have made sense of who God is and what he has done for us.

I heard a testimony once of someone who said they first heard the gospel their second year of seminary. But the person listening to their testimony knew their seminary professors and the courses they had taken in the first year of seminary. So they were certain the person had heard the gospel many times at seminary prior to their second year of seminary. They knew the church this man had grown up in and how faithfully the pastors at that church preached the gospel. Yet, somehow, this man could state in all sincerity, he had never heard the gospel until his second year of seminary!

We encounter so much information every day. But have you taken the time to really consider who God is? Have you thought it through? Prayed about it? Written out your convictions? Come to terms with the nature of our First Love and how God has loved you?

One thing we can all do when we feel discouraged is to remember who God is, what God has done, and what this means for our lives. Remembering and meditating on these truths is a powerful way to experience the reality of our salvation in Christ.

Another diagnostic question we can consider is the state of our heart.

In Matthew 19, Jesus has two encounters.

The first is with children. The disciples feel the little ones should be kept away, but Jesus draws them near. He says the kingdom of heaven belongs to them, and he blesses them. It's a scene filled with laughter, fun, and innocent delight. The kids are eager to be with Jesus, and Jesus fully blesses them.

The second is with a young man who has some measure of wealth. He says he wants eternal life - and so Jesus invites him to become a disciple. However, the man will first have to sell his belongings and give what he has to the poor. Faced with this challenge, the man realizes he wants his earthly belongings more than knowing Jesus. The young man goes away grieving.

What does your heart long for? If your answer isn't God, I get it. Me too. Bring that to God. Talk about it with others. And then - renounce that idol. With God's help, make your ultimate treasure your First Love.

One last question: are you trying to do this by yourself? Or are you relying on God?

I love the story in Genesis 32 of Jacob wrestling with the angel of God. It goes:

"And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, 'Let me go, for the day has broken.' But Jacob said, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.'"

There's a point where we hit rock bottom. We aren't close to God. We aren't experiencing the benefits of salvation. But we can't go without him. We need God. I invite you to plead with God.

As Peter recognized, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

Salvation is received - not by our achievements - intellectual or otherwise - but by faith, by trusting God.

The pastor Erik Raymond defines faith as "trusting and treasuring" God. I love that.

What did Jesus say? I believe it. Who is Jesus? I enjoy him.

Faith is an act of the heart, mind, and will. It engages all of us in our loyalties, affections, beliefs, and direction in life. May our utmost faith be in our First Love. So when we lack faith, we ask God for faith. That is a first step of faith. And it is a Biblical prayer. "God, I believe, help my unbelief!"

Our First Love has loved us well. In light of all that God has done, is doing, and will do to save us, don't you love him more?

O Lord of Grace, the world is before me this day. And I am weak and fearful. But I look to thee for strength. If I venture forth alone I stumble and fall, but on the Beloved's arms I am firm as the eternal hills. If left to the treachery of my heart I shall shame thy Name, but if enlightened, guided, upheld by thy Spirit, I shall bring thee glory. Be thou my arm to support, my strength to stand, my light to see, my feet to run, my shield to protect, my sword to repel, my sun to warm. To enrich me will not diminish thy fullness. All thy lovingkindness is in thy Son. I bring him to thee in the arms of faith. I urge his saving Name as the One who died for me. I plead his blood to pay my debts of wrong. Accept his worthiness for my transgressions, his purity for my uncleanness, his sincerity for my guile, his truth for my deceits, his meekness for my pride, his constancy for my backsliding, his love for my enmity, his fullness for my emptiness, his faithfulness for my treachery, his obedience for my lawlessness, his glory for my shame, his devotedness for my waywardness, his holy life for my unchaste ways, his righteousness for my dead works, his death for my life, Amen.

(From The Valley of Vision)

Pray the prayer from The Valley of Vision each morning this week, asking God to help you trust and treasure Him more.